Giving Up Smoking

Giving up something, or even cutting back on something, let’s say sweets or even coffee is difficult. When cigarettes come into play it becomes a mountain you have to climb seemly without help.

Choosing to quit is in itself the great achievement because it implies that you are ready to take on a challenge.

When you set your mind to do something you can overcome anything, a cliche but true. You don’t have to succeed the first time, you just need to continue to try to quit and not to give up.

Quitting smoking is extremely difficult because you are addicted to nicotine and the habit of smoking – the routing itself.

Nicotine increases the release of dopamine in your brain and gives you a good feeling. To overcome this you often need to resort to a product that gives up a small dose of nicotine until you can slowly rid nicotine of your system.

There are a number of options to choose from in your selection of a nicotine replacement product, whether it is a nicotine patch or gun, you still need to have a strong mental focus – striving to achieve your goal of quitting.

The smoking routing is the other element that makes quitting smoking so difficult. By smoking you have created strong associations in your daily life that have been surrounded by smoking. For instance, you might have become accustomed to smoking at work during breaks, with coffee in the morning, or while having a drink when socialising with friends.

These events become triggers, whenever you are in one of those situations you usually want to light up. To break these smoking associations you must begin by not smoking during those instances.

In the initial stages you don’t have to completely quit cold turkey. Set a quit date and begin by not smoking during those times when you usually smoke, ‘those engrained daily rituals’. Essentially your favourite situations in which you smoke, with friends, while drinking, or when stressed out or bored. These events, the bar and a drink come in equal a cigarette and a lighter, the location or setting a green light for smoke. Your goal is to break these associations and to completely quit smoking in the end.

One of the greatest things about giving up smoking, besides, obviously improving your health and saving your own life – and those around you if you smoke at home, is the fact that you will learn a great deal about yourself.

You will learn that you have used smoking as a crutch in a way. You will come to find that you have more spare time to do things that you have always wanted to do. Also, think  of all the money that you will save by not having to buy anymore cigarettes.

When quitting smokign you must stay active and positive, it is a good idea to create a list of things that you would like to accomplish after you quit.

Many of these things you will find you can begin while you are going through the quitting smoking process. Taking up a new hobby or new sport in conjunction with quitting smoking is a good idea – excercise for example well give you the same type of high that you will get from a cigarette.

Keeping busy includes keeping your hands busy. Whils smoking you create a hand to mouth action that is difficult to break. Chewing gum or sucking on a piece of candy can alleviate these cravings.

Also, doing small chores around the house or taking on a project, building something, creating something and caring for something else will keep you side tracked and allow you to relax and not crave that cigarette so much.

Quitting is not easy. You will have days that are more difficult than others. The key is to be prepared for those situations. Map out a plan when you begin to near your quit date (the day you stop completely, leading up to this day you should be slowly decreasing the number ofigarettes you smoke) that is made up of people you can call or things you can do rather than smoke when you feel like you are about to break down shouting ‘I have to smoke!’ This is when you call a friend or go for a walk.

Again, you are now on your way just by reading this article and thinking about quitting. You will breath easier, have fresh breath again, clothes that smell clean rather than like tobacco, and basically a new set of lungs and heart that beats easier now that it’s not competing with nicotine.

Article by John Webster of www.quit-smoking-site.com

Article Source: www.health-dir.com

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